Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-08-13
IN A MEXICAN DILIGENCIA.
Into the "Hot Lands" on the Western Slope of the Sierra Madre..

EDITOR CITIzES:-The good old days
 of the diligencis. and its picturesoue
 accompaniment of bandits with masks
 and dsggers, are fast drawing to a close
 in Mexico, for American engines end
 enterprise are pushing them further and
 further into the wilderness. But there
 are many places in which the stage
 coach with all its risks and discom-
 forts. will be preferred forever by travel
 CTS with an eye to beauty, and one ot
 thsse IS the route to Cuernavsca.
 Though only eighteen leagues from Mex
 ,co city, just within the borders of the
 Iierrs CaJiente or "hot lands," this old
 city IS separated from the capital by the
 lofty walls of the Sierra Msdre range.
 he scaling of which is an experience
 long to be remembered.
 Besides the charm of mountain scenery,
 the section is invested with the glamour
 of historical romance, having been the
 theatre of Cortes' most adventurous ex- ploits and--three hundred years later -ihe fsvorite trsmping ground of Amer
 icsu invaders. The special obiec. of
 our journey wRs to inspect the scenes
 made famous by the ancient Spanish
 and comparatively recent American
 occupation of the valley. under the re-
 spective
 ARMIES or CoRTEs AND SCOTT, and to visit the country seat of the early
 Oonquistsdor. acquired after he had
 subjected the Aztecs and been made
 Marquis of the Valley"
 Passage by coach from the city of Mexico to Cuernsvsca costs S4 50, wIib
 sn arrobs (25 lbs.) of luggage allowed
 gratis, and fifty cents charged for each .dditional arroba. In Meuco the coach never comes to you, but you must come
 10 the coach, bag and baggage, ss to 8
 aIlvsy carriage, and although on this route the advertised time of starting is
 a. m., it IS veil to present yourself st
 7sst an hour earlier st the ysvning
 portal os the Dihgeneiss Generates. In all this lazy country the one exhibition
 of taking time by the forelock" is iu the
 
 l light of the morning-the drivers beng anxious to reach ss soon ss possible the long midday sIeste. Fortunately We Ilso carried old Father Tempus ID the
 anne dIsrespecttul fashion, figuratively
 .pesking. for fully twenty minutes ,hesd of time the coach was rattllnR hrough the streets to the open plains beyond.
 The locomotive power of the Cuerna- gsca line consists of nine mules to each ,osch. which the driver keeps at con tant gsllop by cracking a very long whip with great energy and making the ,elkin ring at frequent intervals by hir musical cry of "mulesl {; Ah-h-h-h-hP'
 hIle the tsn colored assistant mounted beside him carries a bag of small stones shich he shies, one by one, at the don
 eys' ears, win an accuracy of aim Rs | astonishing as effective.
 Far be it from me to administer to .ou doses of history and scenery sd ,auseaus, but who can journey through bis glorious valley and not be enthu- iastic, finding excuse in the fact that be great minds of many centuries ,oets, warriors, histori-ns, scientists ave been similarly Quickened here? Gho can speed out of these gates and ot think of the gallant Twiggs, who ,enaced them when the tides of battle urged and ebbed around Ohurubusco, | whose ruined walls are just beyond! | Shat American does not feel his pulsee fired by the mention of the names of aces near which We are now passing Chapultepec. Moline del Key, the Hsc en- |. de San Antonio. San Augustln and -s dresry Pedregel. where Scott, North, | Pillon, Quitman, TwiRgs, and Persitef | smith distinguished themselves ct the 1pense of their southern neighbors, hose only offence was in gsllsntly de ending their own?
 Besides these later day transactions, | which Americans should feel no sor | # pride, the country before us. a. wei | ss the city We have left and the hills We \ .re now climbing witness the most re- | nsrkable exploits of Cortes, Alvsrsdo. Coronado and long line of rsscsll' | 5panlards, whose every step m the new | world was marked by the blood of the innocent, Among these purple foot \ oils was the ancient Coyoacsn. where he Oonquerors held his headquarters | turing those days of wholesale murder; | and over there on the borders of Lax. | Xochimilco IS the village ot the same | name, where the brave AZtecs came near | making an ens to this trouble by cap | uriug the cruel conQuisisdOr. Had | they succeeded in taking him prisoner. | now quickly would they have hustled | him up the great staircase of
 THATTERBIBLE TEMPLE OF SACRIFICE
 where old Huitrllo Potcnti sat
 oft on his terrace with fsc' | toward the rising sun who's | rays reflected upon the golden breast | .iatel Already the lugubrious war drums of serpent skin were sounding ID ut1cipstion, and the priests, with barred | teasts and adder-snnointed locks, pre- | ,sred their knives of volcanic glass for | he welcome task. Fortunate indeed would the aborigines have been had | ,hier little game succeeded-but the hand of Fate was stronger, and with tbe
 scape of "the Fair God" thelr doom was sealed.
 When we set out from the Capital city | ,t a sir vss cool to chilliDess, and though tie lSmps were extinguished, the great | .olsr lamps had not yet been lighted .sBut now. like Iobsters boiled. the morn From blsck to red begins tO tnrn
 Al Tlslpam-the ancient San Agut- | ,ip-ve tsrried long enough to change | mules. and after leaving that lovely vil- | nee with its trees and gardens, wound l apwRrd among volcanic rocks by a tire cme mountain road. At length AIus 70 was reached, suddled close under the xtinct volcano of the same name-a
 miserable little village which from um' ,mmemorisl has been famous as rob
 oers' nest. Above drowned the blsck mountain, clothed from base to summit | with dark forests of pine and bemlock-
 certainly looking worthy of it's brigand-
 haunted reputation. | Later, at La Guarda, Bu enterprlslng
 hamlet containing one adobe house, dozen csne-stslk iscels, and sn alleged AboteT which is cross between the
 two-we halted for breakfast. It wa | now eleven o'clock. and we had climbed npward fir m the valley well into me tierra fria, or cold zone, to sn altitude Inf g. 700 feet. Inside the rude hut, with
 ,ts esrthen floor and thatch ot dirty
 straw. we breakfssted sumptuously 1thsuks to healthy sppetItes sharpened Inv mountain sIr). on the most peppsry of chili-con-csrne, chicken smothered m | f.. f-;;olaa (naapal stiFral in grease.